I have a 10 year old fifth grade girl and would have a hard time not complaining. DD is just entering puberty and is in that awkward stage where she is very shy about the changes in her own body. I think that for an empathetic kid like her, a report on genital mutilation would be traumatizing. I have to ask -- are other girls covering this topic or did she get singled out?
I totally agree! I think they just barely start covering sex ed type topics at this age. I cannot see that mutilation is at all appropriate for ANY 5th grader. If this is not a topic that can be easily shared verbally in a report to the rest of the class, I don't think it makes an appropriate research topic for that age group.
